Sean wasn’t going to lie. He was really happy that it was he, and not Brady, who was getting the mission with Claire Huntley. Brady would not have been able to properly appreciate the beauty of the woman in front of him. He was standing near her, on board the ship that Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. had given to the Avengers. She was working over all of her pre-flight checks, and he was admiring the body that she had, even though it was partially disfigured by the flight suit that she was wearing.

“Stop staring at my ass.”

“What, whoa, I’m not…” He said.

She turned around and gave him a pointed stare.

“I’m looking at the avionics, lady. I mean, these are some mighty fine avionics, so I’m admiring them, but besides that, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Sean said, shaking his head.

“I know you’re a former Army Ranger and Special Forces, but I don’t think you know a damn thing about the avionics that went into making this space ship.” Claire replied. “Don’t even try to bullshit me, either.”

He nodded slowly. She did have him there. “That is a good point. That is also why I am studying them as closely as I am. It’s the only way to learn.” Sean said with a smile.

“Right. Study from the outside, Mr. Toretto. I know damn well you can survive in space, so you’re going to have to fly pretty quickly if you want to keep up with me.” She said. Claire looked him up and down and then gave him a little smirk, one that seemed trademarked for her face. “I mean, I don’t think Thor is going to have a problem in that department.” Claire said.

He shook his head. “Now that was uncalled for.” He said.

“So was staring at my ass.” She said and pointed. “Out. I have work to finish.” Claire said.

“Yes, ma’am.” Sean said, tipping an imaginary hat in her direction. When he got outside of the space ship, he saw Thor standing in the hangar, looking at the ship. “What’s going on Thor?” He asked.

“Surely a far faster device than this exists to traverse the stars.” Thor said.

“You making fun of my ship?” Claire asked, poking her head out. “You better not be making fun of my ship. I don’t care if you’re a God of whatever it is you’re a god of.” She said and pointed at him. “Don’t make fun of my ship.” She said. “We’re ready to go. Everyone who wants a ride can get a ride.” Claire said, as armed Vanguard soldiers came into the hangar with their gear. “Except for Toretto.” She added.

They had reached the edge of the solar system. Claire looked down at her instruments and saw that everything on the S.H.I.E.L.D. ship was ready to go. While they had tested the ship’s faster than light drive in the past, they had never truly taken the ship as far out as they were planning on doing it now. It had merely been tests, to see that if they wanted to, at some later point in time, they had the option to do that. Well, this was that later point in time. Claire toggled the communications program, accessing the hardware that was plugged into the ears of Torreto and Thor.

“Alright, boys, this thing tops out at a speed far slower than what you guys can go at. So don’t leave little ole me behind, okay?” She asked.

“I would never leave you behind.” Sean said.

“The God of Thunder would never leave a fallen comrade.” Thor said.

She smiled, laughing into the communications receiver. “You boys need to stop the sweet talk.” Claire said, reaching for the switch to turn the ship’s faster than light drive on. “Shooting for the stars in three….two…..one….”

She threw the switch.

They had the general idea of where to go, thanks to Spider-Man’s scanners, but as they got closer and closer they’d be able to pin point a more accurate location. The only problem was that they knew that the general location was somewhere within the territory of what had been the Kree Empire, prior to the Chrell Invasion. They didn’t know what was going on there now, and that was going to make things a bit dicier. After all, it could be the Kree, which wouldn’t be that good, or it could be someone else, and that could be worse.

Odds weren’t in their favor that it was going to be some benevolent faction that was peachy with them coming to take an Infinity Gem from their territory. Which meant that Claire was happy that they had a God of Thunder on their side. There were too many variables in this mission. There was a whole contingent of Vanguard soldiers in the ship with her, and their lives were her responsibility. If something happened to the ship, she wasn’t sure how well they were going to be able to get everyone home safely. Exfiltration was difficult, and it wasn’t something that they had planned too carefully for.

Davis and Burke were putting a lot of faith in Thor’s hammer, that much was definite. She had read the files and seen the paperwork, but until she could see it in person, all she had to go on was the hype. Claire worked well with facts; she was a military woman.

Sean looked around and took it all in. Space was incredible, and the view of the cosmos from the Sol system was breathtaking. But now, here he was, in a different system in the universe. He'd never have thought that he would be in a place such as this, looking in to the universe the way he was. The stars looked so foreign. Not to mention the plants that populated the system they were in. “Okay, so, we’re here, right? We know exactly where the gem is, so are we in the right place?” He asked.

“Well, we don’t know the exact location, but from what I’m looking at, we are in the right…general place.” Claire replied, over the communications device. “We have the scanner that Spider-Man made, but the scanner itself doesn’t give us the exact location.” She said. “We have to do a little searching. But, it does narrow down which of the….twenty three planets in this system is where the gem is.” She said. “Can we pause for a moment to mention that there are twenty three planets in this system? I’ve got trained Vanguard soldiers all trying to look out of the windows.” She said, with amusement in her voice, as the communications system crackled.

“I do not understand why thy words and the number of the worlds instill such wonder and awe.” Thor said.

“Well, we’re not people who typically leave Earth’s Sol system, big guy. The human race hasn’t done that in years. So this is pretty strange for us.” Sean said, looking over to where Thor floated in space near him, giving him a smile. Then he grimaced, and looked back, over at the S.H.I.E.L.D. space ship. “Not going to lie, I’m feeling a bit peaked from the whole faster than light thing. It’s not something I do normally.” He said. “The sooner we’re finished with this, the better. Where are we headed, Claire?” He asked.

“From the looks of things, we’re headed towards one of the middle planets.” She said. “It’s supposed to be in that general vicinity.” She added. The S.H.I.E.L.D. craft slowly inched forward, the engines a bit surprised by the fact that they had even gotten there in the first place. After all, it had been faster than light. “This doesn’t give us the exact coordinates, so we will have to do a bit of searching.”

The ship took the lead, the two men following as they started to move through the system.

“This place doesn’t look like it has too many people in it.” Wonder Man said.

“I’m not getting many readings of life.” Claire confirmed. “But there is a big one farther away. I’m picking up some readings from it. I don’t know if they use similar frequencies as we do.” She said.

“We are supposedly in Kree Empire territory.” Thor said.

“Stands a chance we could run into them.” Wonder Man said. “You said you’re good at diplomacy, right?” He asked.

“Tis not a mortal on Midgard alive that could better hammer out the finer details of negotiations than the Son of Odin.” Thor said.

“I feel like what you’re saying is that there is an immortal on Asgard who is better. Also, when you talk about diplomacy and you use ‘hammer’ as a verb, I don’t feel better inside.” Wonder Man said.

Sean was still feeling weak as they continued on their hunt for the Infinity Gem. Faster than light travel was something that he could do, apparently, but it took more out of him than he was willing to admit. The soldier in him was forcing him to keep moving, and he was a little annoyed that he couldn't keep up with the Asgardian God of Thunder. At the same time, he knew and understood his role in all of this.

It wasn't to be the strongest or the fastest, it was to be the heavy hitter when the others were occupied. He had that power, he had that strength. "Claire, how are we looking?" He asked.

"Decent." She said, over the communications system. "The scanner is starting to report stronge readings." She said. "I think we have to go down to that...green looking one." She added.

"There are three green looking ones." Sean replied.

"Okay, the bluish green looking one."

"That helps." Sean said and turned to look at Thor, who was staring off into the distance.

"We may not be alone." He said.

---

Border Patrol was not something that the warship Axuntal was used to. It was a true Kree Warship, albeit one that hadn't seen full military action in some time. Still it was one of the more feared Kree warships in the Kree Navy. This had come to pass not only due to the ship's history, but also the fearsome commander who captained the ship. A Kree soldier of exceptional skill and expertise, he was one of the few survivors of the Chrell Invasion and one of the men and women who had saved the Kree Empire from complete annihilation by the invading Chrell. Though he had been offered repeated promotions, he had turned them all down, instead opting to continue to be the captain of the Axuntal.

An admirable decision to say the least, and one that had helped give the warship even more of a fabled history. The second in command of the vessel stood on the bridge, having assumed command when the captain had retired to his chambers. The ship glided through the Barsolis system with nary a trouble, despite the age of the engines that sorely needed an upgrade. It was something on the list of things that needed to be attended to the next time the ship was undergoing maintenance.

"Sir, we have an unidentified craft being picked up on the sensors." One of the junior officers said.

The second in command turned towards the sound of the voice. "What's the size?" He asked.

"It can't be much larger than a shuttle, at most."

That was strange. Almost all of the twenty three planets in the system were either unable to support life, or just uninhabited by sentient creatures. Whoever this ship belonged to, they had chosen an entry vector that made travel to the actually populated parts of the system rather long and tedious. Commercial vessels wouldn't do that, it was a waste of fuel and time. Neither would the average traveler.

He pulled up the logs for any research vessels that were supposed to be in the area at the time and found that there were none. It made the overall situation even that much more peculiar. He knew better than to wake the captain, that being reserved for situations of a more dire calamity. "Take us in the direction of the craft. I want to know the moment the sensors start giving us more information."

Claire continued to point her little ship in the direction of the intended planet. She could feel her blood pressure beginning to rise. They all knew that it was a possibility that they may run into someone else while on this mission. Each one of them had assumed the risk. However, there was something ominous about a Thunder God getting nervous, though she was sure he would never admit to that fact, "Thor......what do you see?"

He was just floating there. His cape and hair not affected by gravity. His massive hammer gripped within his fist, "Tis a ship, fair maiden. I cannot make out the markings on it from this distance but I am sure it is of Kree origin. And a warship at that."

Claire gritted her teeth. This was just fantastic. The word warship did not fill her with comforting feelings. She turned and looked at her companions, "Buckle up. We've got a bit of a ride in store."

Thor's voice chimed in over the comm channel once more, "Fear not, Lady Claire! The Son of Odin shall not allow any harm to befall you or your companions. Let me show you the power of my diplomatic abilities!"

With that Thor flew off at blazing speed. Both Huntley and Sean could be heard in unison, "Thor!"

However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Claire hit the thrusters and moved the vessel forward at a quick pace, "Toretto! I'm taking this baby down! Scanners are still picking up the signal from that middle planet. I'm putting her down there before Thor accidentally gets us blown up."

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

The second in command’s brow furrowed as he looked at the junior officer. “That’s a wasteland. It’s inhospitable.” He said.

“That’s where they’re going sir.” The ensign said. He paused. “We also have a large…thing headed towards us, sir. It can’t be much larger than a…it’s a person. He doesn’t appear to be slowing down at all, sir.” He said, looking up at the second in command of the Axuntal

This was not going to be good. He didn’t want to wake up the commander of the vessel, but it appeared as though he had no choice.

“Battlestations.” He said. “Power up all weaponry, and lock on. We need to be ready. Start bio scans.”

***

“I do the laundry for a reason.” Allistair Creed said to the woman who was holding up two articles of clothing, unsure of how the color from one had been transferred to the other. “That’s not a sentence I like saying. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Yes, yes, you eat people.” Cara replied. “We’ve been traveling together for years, I have yet to see you eat people.”

“Like I’ve said before, you keep me on the straight and narrow. So I do the laundry.” Creed said, with a bitter taste in his mouth as the words left his mouth. “Chalk it up to me trying to impress you.”

“I have no interest in sleeping with you, Allistair.”

He grinned, showing off the reinforced metal teeth he possessed as his white, pearlescent eyes sparkled. “Doesn’t mean I have to stop trying.” He replied, even though they both knew he wasn’t actually trying at all. The warning klaxon sounded, alerting the two of them that they were preparing to drop out of lightspeed, something that Creed was looking forward to, since they had a job in this system.

The heavily modified and heavily stolen Kree Monarch-class dropped out of lightspeed into the Bilkter system. “Which planet are we looking for again?” Creed asked. “I wasn’t paying attention to the broker when we spoke to him.” He said.

“Too busy looking at the naked women?”

“You know me well.”

“Kanja-3.” She replied.

Allistair Creed, in the top five of most wanted people in the entire universe, goosed the throttle as Cara’len Mar’vyl, in the top five of the most wanted people in the Kree Empire sat down next to him in the cockpit of their ship.

The ship set down nicely. Claire was an excellent pilot. Claiming her sidearm she holstered the weapon and motioned for the others to follow suit. The doors opened and the ramp lowered. The crew of the ship stepped out onto the alien world. She frowned. The signal was still coming from this world, but there was literally nothing to see other than rocks and dirt all the way to the horizon. She turned to the others, "Well....what do the scanners say? Where should we be looking?"

OOC: Short, I know. But let's get this thing done. Sounds like this is the thread that's holding up the entire Avengers story.

"I'd like to nominate Cazzik for the Sexiest Man on Earth 2010." --Balsa

“I’m not sure.” Wonder Man said. “We have the sensor, so that’s probably the best place to start.” He said. He had the machinery in his hands and looking down at it, he saw that according to the data they were getting, they were relatively close to the Infinity Gem. “We are close from what I can see.” He said as he started walking, accompanied by Claire and the rest of the Vanguard soldiers.

“That’s good.” Claire said. She looked around at the flora and fauna that called this planet home. It was a good thing if they could get off this planet as soon as possible. They were foreigners, interlopers in this area. Technically they were on the sovereign land of an intergalactic empire, if the information she had gotten from SHIELD was right. The last thing she wanted as to create problems with a power that might attack earth in response. “We need to find this thing as quickly as possible.” She added.

“I agree.” Wonder Man replied. His eyes were up, scanning the area. Due to the ionic experiment he had been a part of his, his vision had been improved, and he had the ability to see along the energy spectrum. It was going to be useful when it came to locating this Gem and getting them of this planet with speed.

Claire looked over her shoulder to one of the Vanguard soldiers. “What is Thor doing? Please tell me he hasn’t started a damn war.” She said.

The captain of the vessel was already up by the time the ensign knocked on his door. It was like he had an uncanny ability to know when he was most needed. The ensign had barely completed the first knock when the door slid apart and the vessel’s commanding officer, the ranking member of the Kree Empire stared out at the man. The ensign had fear in his eyes. He knew what it meant to bother the commadner when it wasn’t the right time.

“Sir.” He said.

“Report.”

“We have reports of an unidentified man coming towards us.”

“A man?” He asked.

“We don’t know for sure. There are no readings, nothing to indicate how he’s surviving in space.” The ensign said, completing the report that the ship’s executive officer had given to him just a few minutes before. “The XO thinks the man may be a hostile.”

The commander started walking, the ensign following him. A rush of thoughts moved through his mind. Who was this man hurtling through space towards his ship? What intent did he have? How was he able to survive space? If he had no technological means, then how could they hail him? The problem was what if they couldn’t hail him, they had no way of knowing whether he meant them harm or not until he reached them.

He came onto the bridge, and his XO loked up at him, a smile on his face. Clearly the man, while competent, preferred to have his commander on deck.

“Sir.”

“How long?” He asked.

“Maybe five klasks.” The XO said. “There’s a shuttle that he arrived with, that’s landed on Kanja-5”

“That planet does not support life.” He said, but then the XO’s face changed. “What?” He asked.

“We’ve got a Monarch-class in system, Sir, headed towards Kanja-3.” He said, and pointed at the identification display. “Look at the name of the ship.”

It was her. The commander's eyes widened, but only fractionally, his best response to being shocked. He wasn't an expressive man. But for this, he was truly shocked.

Claire looked down at the scanner. It still seemed like they were a ways off. As interesting as this planet was and as amazed she was that she had traveled through space, she also wanted to be off this planet and back home as quickly as possible. They were trespassers and with the lack of knowledge earth had about the rest of the galaxy, she had no idea what threats were out there that could take them down. Better to get the little rock they were after and get going. It was a recurring feeling and one she kept trying to push aside so she could get the job done.

“We should be getting close.” Wonder Man said.

“I think so.” She replied to Sean. “It might help if you searched from above.” Claire added, pointing upwards.

He nodded and lifted up off the ground. As he moved through the air, Sean spoke. “The gravity here is definitely different. Can you feel it?” He asked and she shrugged. “It’s a little heavier than earth’s gravity. I can feel it when I fly…have to exert more strength.”

“Let’s find this rock we came here for and then you won’t have to overstress your little muscles.” Claire replied.

He shook his head, ignoring the jab, before he slowed down, floating upwards. “Oh….wow.” Wonder Man said, pointing. “You’ve got to see this. We’ve got a chasm coming up. It might be about two miles out. But it’s a sinkhole basically. I think I can see buildings in the sinkhole. This might be what we’re looking for.”

“Okay, well, see if you can tell me if there are any inhabitants in there.” She said.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Cara’len looked down at the scanners as they got nearer to Kanja-3. “Are we sure it was Kanja-3?” She asked.

“I was the one who couldn’t remember, so you’re the one who remembered.” Allistair replied. “Why, what’s wrong?”

She pointed at the scanners. “I’m picking up the energy signature but it’s coming from Kanja-5. It might be there, and not on Kanja-3.”

Allistair leaned over and gave the monitors a once-over. She was right. The energy signature they’d programmed their onboard scanning equipment to follow was definitely saying the readings were coming from the neighboring planet. With a shrug, he leaned back over and took back the controls. As he did, they were notified that a communications channel was being opened up between them and another vessel.

“Who’s here, besides, us?” Cara’len asked. “I thought the system was supposed to be deserted.” She looked over at Allistair’s side of the controls. “Don’t tell me…”

But it seemed like he was going to be in the middle of one. He watched as the large vessel he had been approaching seemingly lost all interest in him, and turned towards a much smaller vessel he could see in the distance. This craft moved with far greater speed than the larger one. But he knew enough to know that the weapons and shielding would not withstand any attack from the larger one. Surging forward, Thor held Mjolnir close as he surveyed the scene before him. He did not know who was in the right and who was in the wrong, but he could tell that one was trying to evade the other. The fight was on, and he smiled as he drifted forward, knowing he was getting an exceptional view of the war being waged by the two parties.

“Thor, what’s going on up there?”

“Claire of the Hunt, there is a battle unfolding before mine eyes truly magnificent to behold.” Thor said.

Cara’len shook her head. In all the places in the Kree Empire, and on all of the days. It was quite possibly the worst luck she had ever had in her life. She looked over at Allistair and he shrugged, continuing the descent. “What are you doing?” She asked. “We can’t stay here.”

“I’ve fought Kree bastards before.” Allistair replied.

“But we’ve made it our business to never be in the same system as the Axuntal.”

He shook his head. “No, that’s not true. You’ve made it our business to never be in the same system as the Axuntal, and I’ve humored you.” Allistair said. “Now, normally, I don’t mind staying out of his way. After all, he’s been sore on us since we escaped after I found you. But down there,” Creed said, pointing towards the planet, as it loomed larger and larger into view, “is the largest score we’ve ever had. There’s more S-bills and units than we’ve ever had. We’d be able to retire.”

“Is the risk worth the reward?” She asked.

“I literally said retire.” Allistair replied, as they entered the atmosphere. “I don’t care what’s down there; I don’t care what’s up in space. We’re getting what we came here for.”

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Claire and Wonder Man slowed to a stop as they reached the edge of the sinkhole. Down below, she could see what he had alluded to before. Down below in the sinkhole, which had to be hundreds of meters below, there were buildings. She couldn’t tell what they were for, or whether anyone lived there. Turning to Wonder Man, she spoke. “Can you tell if anyone is down there?” She asked.

He shook his head. “Not without getting closer.”

She sighed. “I guess we’re going to have to get closer.” She said, and looked over at the Vanguard soldiers they had brought with them. “Guys, we’re going in.”

Thor watched as the smaller ship descended down towards the planet. The other, much larger ship was firing upon the smaller ship, but it’s larger cannons were unable to hit the smaller ship. He watched as the larger ship also started to launch smaller ships, even smaller than the ship they were attacking. His grip on Mjolnir tightened, as he scanned the situation. He did not know how far Claire the Fair was progressing in her search for the Infinity Gem.

But he was sure that she needed time to find it. He also did not know what the small ship was looking for, but it was moving towards the planet at a rapid pace. If the larger ship and the small ship’s conflict took them down to the planet below, it would impede their attempts to find the gem.

Swinging the hammer, he surged forward, flying towards the fight. He did not want to get involved in this conflict. But he would now, as they got closer and closer to the planet. With a crash, he slammed through one of the smaller fighters the larger ship had launched. Suddenly his path was shifted, as he was hit by a blast from the large ship’s cannons.

Turning in space, Thor smiled.

It was time to battle.

---

Wonder Man dropped down to the ground in the sinkhole, looking at the buildings around him. He waited as Claire dropped down next to him after a few moments, her descent controlled by a jetpack. He looked over at her. “This looks like it was some kind of city, but everyone is dead and gone. I don’t see anything living. Maybe it was abandoned?” He asked.

“Abandoned would be nice.” Claire said with a nod of her head. “The fewer people we have to deal with, the better. I’d prefer to get this Infinity thing and get going.” She said. She looked around. From what she could tell, it looked as though Sean was correct. But at the same time, she was not enhanced in any way. She started to move forward, but then Sean reached a hand out, stopping her.

She turned to look at him, but he was pointing up at the sky.

Following his finger, she saw there was a ship that was descending into the sinkhole on the other side of where they were.

Sean looked at her. “We’re not alone.” He said. “We need to hurry.” He said and pointed at the scanner. “You find the stone. I’ll see what’s going on with these newcomers.

The scanner’s pings were starting to increase in volume both in sound and repetition. Claire looked down at the radar like mapping and saw that she was close to where the stone was supposed to be. Looking up, she started walking through the streets of the abandoned populace, her eyes scanning building after building. But she had no idea what she was looking for. It would have been too much to ask for the stone to just be lying on the ground or in some kind of clearly marked place. But damn if she didn’t wish it had been. All of this would have been easier. As she moved through the streets, she couldn’t help but think about what it was she was doing. She was on an alien planet walking through a city or town of some abandoned civilization. It was incredible.

Claire was fairly certain that had Paul Matthews been here, he would have been beside himself with glee about all the wealth of information that was surrounding her. Any of the Fantastics would have been. Unfortunately for scientific progress, Claire was not a scientist. She was a military woman and she was just looking for a small little stone.

Her eyes settled on a governmental looking building. At least she thought it was a governmental looking building. Maybe it was. Walking towards it, she looked down at the scanner and saw that it was directing her towards the building. Hopefully this was it.

The doors didn’t have a lot of give, and she had to put her back into it to force them open. They creaked and finally gave way and she was inside the building. Looking around, she saw that it was not a governmental building, but looked more like a religious one. There were statues in different places, and icons on the wall. Alien creatures the likes of which she had never seen before. She was in some kind of holy site. Claire saw that everything in the room was leading up to some kind of altar, much like a regular church. Walking down the aisle, she let her free hand go down and bring up her rifle.

Just because the whole town had looked abandoned didn’t mean it was abandoned.

Stepping up onto the altar, there was nothing readily apparent as to what she was looking for. But the scanner was telling her that everything she was looking for was in this room. She turned the scanner off and turned around, looking out over the room. Sighing, Claire leaned against the altar.

This was ridiculous. She was on some foreign planet looking for a stone? Shaking her head, Claire couldn’t believe that she’d signed up for this. But Brian Grace had asked, and you didn’t say no to the director of Vanguard. Not when he needed your help. And not when Captain America and the Avengers needed your help. Turning her head to the side, Claire spied an ornate carving on one of the walls. The design work was intricate indicating it had been done by someone both skilled at their job and possessing a high level of dedication to the subject material. What had caught her eye was not the detail of the work however, but the work itself. The artwork depicted a group of people all kneeling and praising one who was holding something up in the air.

What was interesting was that the object the person was holding was different than anything other material used in the artwork.

It was a dull blue rock looking thing that appeared to be covered in dirt and dust and grime. Claire’s eyes narrowed as she walked over to the artwork on the wall. Sliding part of her sleeve up to cover her hand, she brushed away the dirt and the grime. The rock started to shine as soon as she touched it. Her eyes widened.

Claire turned as Cara and Allistair Creed walked into the room. She saw the woman whisper something in the man’s ear. Who were these people? Where was Sean?

“Who are you?” Claire asked.

“Doesn’t really matter.” Allistair replied. “That little stone is ours. If you like your pretty face, I’d scatter if I were you.” He said.

“I need this.” Claire said, shaking her head.

Allistair removed his goggles, his pearlescent eyes glowing. “And I don’t give a shit, lady.” He said. “Cara here told me that your human and speak human. Luckily for you, so do I. Now, that’s the only courtesy I’m going to offer you.” He said, and produced two wicked looking knives.

“Claire!”

She turned again as Sean came into the room. He imposed himself between her and the two newcomers. “Glad to see you.” She said, as from the entrance of the hall, her Vanguard soldiers entered, their weapons trained on the two foreign interlopers. “It seems I may not have need of your courtesy.” She said. “There’s more of us than there are of you.” She said.

“Yeah, but I eat people.” Allistair said and grinned, showing off his perfect, razor sharp teeth. “Ain’t afraid to take a bite out of you, babe.”

“That’s gross.” Claire replied.

Both sides were tense, a powder keg ready to erupt.

Then there was a boom, and a ground shattering thud outside of the building.

Knocked to the ground, Claire watched as the blue stone in her hand started to spark and send off flashes of light. That couldn’t be good. She wasn’t sure what exactly this stone could do, because the Avengers hadn’t known which stone was where when she had been sent on this mission. Anything could happen. In a perfect world, she wouldn’t be holding it with her hand, but then again, in a perfect world, she wouldn’t be getting attacked either. Rolling over, she looked up and saw that Sean was locked in a shoulder and collar tie up with the woman. Meanwhile, the man with the blades was running towards the Vanguard soldiers, who looked as though their weapons were going to be rather useless against the man.

Getting up to her feet, she pulled out her own weapon and fired at the man, more out of gut reaction than anything else. She had the same weapons as her soldiers. Turning back to see how Sean was doing, she saw that Torretto was covering up to stop the woman’s punches.

They needed Thor.

As if on cue, part of the wall broke, exploding into the hall. It wasn’t Thor who came crashing through the wall however. It was someone else. A man, quite tall, who was dressed in some kind of formal battlewear. He carried with him a large hammer, the handle of which was long enough to belong to a spear. There was some kind of purple color motif going on.

“Jesus. Who the hell is this guy?” Claire asked, waving.

Both the unknown man and woman stopped what they were doing and looked at the newcomer. Then they both looked at each other. Then something strange happened. Almost as if as one, they turned and attacked the man on the ground at the same time. The woman’s hands lifted upwards and twin beams of energy shot out of her hands. Meanwhile, the man jumped into the air, with the intent of burying his two knives into the prostrate man.

Thor meanwhile walked into the hall, through the hole in the wall. “Lady Huntley!” He said with a smile. “Thy hands hold the Stone.” He said.

There had also been a look of recognition on the face of the man with the long hammer and now the three of them were engaged in a vicious fight, a two on one fight. “It might be our only shot.” He said.

Thor turned to Claire. “I will abide by thy decision.” He said.

“Let’s move.” She said, indicating to the Vanguard soldiers that it was time to book it.